Tuesday, February 20, 2018, 18:15 - 20:30
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Professor Philip Seaton of Hokkaido University |
“Contents tourism” is probably not a familiar term to many, but most people these days will have seen stories about the phenomenon and been contents tourists themselves. “Contents” are the narratives, characters, locations and creative elements of works of popular culture, and contents tourism is visiting places related to a favourite manga, anime, film, novel, or computer game.
The term originated in Japan in the 1990s, particularly to refer to travel by fans of manga and anime to “sacred sites” depicted in the stories. From 2005 the Japanese government started encouraging local authorities to use local “contents” as a tourism resource for domestic tourism. Contents tourism subsequently became linked to the Cool Japan campaign, and fans of Japanese pop culture abroad were increasingly seen as a rich potential market of inbound tourists.
While manga and anime remain central to the story of contents tourism, our research project has expanded the scope of contents tourism research to include particularly historical television dramas and literature. Furthermore, given that the major global entertainment franchises are now disseminated across multiple media platforms (as seen in the world of the Harry Potter books adapted into films, plays, games etc.), this concept originating in Japan is particularly useful for explaining the development of tourism induced by popular entertainment franchises worldwide. This talk by Philip Seaton will focus on some of the key examples of contents tourism both in Japan and overseas, including Taiga Dramas (NHK), anime, and Harry Potter.
Philip Seaton is a professor in the Research Faculty of Media and Communication, Hokkaido University. His research is on war, memory, and the representation of history in the Japanese media and tourist sites. Since 2014 he has co-led a research project into contents tourism funded by a grant from the government-run Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). He is the author/editor of four books: Japan’s Contested War Memories, Voices from the Shifting Russo-Japanese Border (with Svetlana Paichadze), Local History and War Memories in Hokkaido, and Contents Tourism in Japan (with Takayoshi Yamamura, Akiko Sugawa-Shimada and Kyungjae Jang). His website is: www.philipseaton.net
The library committee is offering a cocktail party – "Meet the Author" – starting at 6:15 pm, followed by dinner at 6:45 pm (Menu: Chicken with Mustard and Rosemary/ Seasonal Salad/ Bread/ Tiramisu/ Coffee or Tea). Drinks can be ordered on a cash basis from the bar in the room. Book Break charges are 2,100yen / 3,500yen (members / non-members) per person. The member price is applicable to members’ guests.
To FCCJ members: Sign up now at the reception desk (03-3211-3161) or on the FCCJ website. To help us plan proper seating and food preparation, please reserve in advance, preferably by noon of the day of the event. Those without reservations will be turned away once available seats are filled. Reservations cancelled less than 24 hours in advance will be charged in full.
To non-members: Sign up now at the reception desk by email (front@fccj.or.jp). Please reserve and pay in advance by Thursday, February 15. Those without reservations will be turned away once available seats are filled. No refund is available unless the event is cancelled for the reasons on our part.
(The talk will be in English)
